


Ice Skating

by Hisa_Ai



Series: 31 Days of Christmas [17]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: 31 Days of fic, Christmas, Christmas prompts, Day 17, Ice Skating, Implied Relationship, Jealousy, M/M, Prompt Fic, Yule, skill, visiting royalty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2013-12-17
Packaged: 2018-01-05 01:29:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1087995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hisa_Ai/pseuds/Hisa_Ai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A visiting prince introduces Arthur and Merlin to ice skating. Neither boy are very good at first, but then Merlin uses his magic to gain the skills necessary to one-up Arthur and spends a few moments talking alone with the visiting prince, leaving Arthur just a touch jealous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ice Skating

* * *

 

  
In retrospect, when Arthur told Merlin the plans his father had made for him for the day, he probably shouldn't have laughed. But by the time he realized his fatal mistake, it was too late. They were already out on some frozen lake in those god-awful boots with blades attached to the bottom of them, wobbling and trying not to fall flat on their faces.

It was some new game or sport, depending on how you viewed it, brought to Camelot by a visiting prince—and wasn't it  _always_  visiting royalty that seemed to get Merlin and Arthur into such situations?—that Uther had insisted Arthur take part in at least once, to show solidarity and a willingness to learn from other kingdoms.

Or  _something_.

And of course, when Merlin had laughed and teased him about making sure not to fall through the ice to his death or something, Arthur had insisted he come with him. Who was he, he had told the visiting prince and his father, to deny his faithful manservant the same chance at fun and a new game?

"Evil prat," Merlin murmured under his breath as the visiting Prince, Prince Aaryn, showed them how to strap into the boots and not slice their fingers open on the blade at the bottom of it. Arthur had grinned in response, asked Prince Aaryn if the sport was really so dangerous, as his manservant was quite the klutz on solid ground with his regular boots on, so he didn't know how he would be on ice with razor-sharp blades attached to them.

Aaryn assured him that as long as they were careful and the ice wasn't too thin, they would be fine. And then he pushed off the snow onto the frozen lake and started walking them through the steps, giving them what Merlin was sure he thought were helpful pointers.

"Go on,  _Mer_ lin." Arthur nudged him forward, pushing him out on to the ice without much warning. Merlin shot him a look but quickly focused his attention back on the ice and not falling to his death instead of Arthur close behind him moving forward and passing him in his damned bladed boots—hopefully just as ungraceful as Merlin himself was.

Legs wobbling as he tried to find his  _balance_ , as Aaryn kept telling them to do, he watched the visiting prince as he moved along the ice with ease, his feet seemingly with minds of their own as he did a few laps along the frozen lake that Merlin didn't quite trust. Of course, he was fucking brilliant at it and for that Merlin hated him just a bit.

He turned his attention to his own feet, looked down at them as he pushed forward on the ice, willing them to stop wobbling and just glide forward gracefully like Aaryn was doing…

So, of course, he fell not two seconds later, too focused on his feet to pay attention to his fucking  _balance_  like Aaryn had told him to.

Both princes chuckled at him, Arthur holding out a hand to him to help pull him to his feet as he grumbled incoherently about prat princes ganging up on him in response.

What was he  _doing_ , he asked himself as Aaryn playfully chastised him for not looking where he was going. He had  _magic_ , surely he knew of some spell or another that could keep him from falling again...

"Don't look at your bloody feet, fool," Prince Aaryn laughed, telling him to be sure he bent his knees and leaned forward, not backward. Arthur laughed too, though Merlin could tell that he was  _really_  two seconds away from falling flat on his royal backside.

Putting some distance between himself and Arthur, he mumbled some words under his breath, looked down as his eyes flashed golden and began to skate forward with a newfound balance and grace that had Aaryn grinning in approval that he was  _getting it_ , and left Arthur slack-jawed, wondering how the  _hell_  he had turned it around so fast.

"Focus on your  _center_ , Arthur," Merlin grinned, gliding past him at a pace that almost surpassed Aaryn's. "Find your  _balance_ ," he smirked, relishing in the feel of one-upping Arthur once more—and in front of visiting royalty, no doubt.

Oh, he would most  _definitely_  be punished for this later, but for the moment, he simply grinned, chatting with Aaryn about the different techniques he had come to find worked best for him over the years and the games he often played out on the ice every winter with his knights and boys from the castle and village. He was a lot like Arthur, Merlin noted, willing to interact and chat with those meant to serve and obey him that most in his position did not give the time of day to.

"You all right back there, Arthur?" Aaryn asked at one point, casting a look back at Arthur and his gritted teeth. He was catching on quickly, as Merlin knew he would, and he hadn't quite fallen yet—a few close calls, though—but he was still moving unsteadily, legs too straight and his body leaning too far back. At least he was  _capable_  of moving forward, his feet moving with a skill that just needed a little nurturing. He would get the hang of it, Aaryn was sure. Eventually.

"Just fine, thanks." He replied, though neither Aaryn not Merlin quite believed him.

"You need a hand? A few more pointers maybe?"

"No thanks, Aaryn, I've got this,"

Aaryn grinned, turning his attention back to Merlin. "He always this stubborn?"

"Oh, you have  _no idea,"_ Merlin grinned back, chuckling under his breath.

"Well then you're a better man than I, Merlin. I'd have cracked the lake by now just to shove his stubborn ass under it if I had to serve him for even two minutes." He clucked, doing some elaborate trick and landing without incident, probably doing it just to get a rise out of Arthur and his watching, probably jealous, eyes.

"It does take a certain  _skill_  to serve Prince Arthur of Camelot," he admitted with a shake of his head. Not that he'd trade that skill, that job, for anything else in the world.

"Yeah? Well you ever get tired of him," he nodded backwards. "Just know that you've always got a place in my kingdom, in my castle. And remember," he lowered his tone, nodded conspicuously towards Arthur, who was actually catching up to them. "Magic is practiced freely and without prosecution in  _my_  kingdom."

Merlin's eyes narrowed, jaw-slackened for half a second as he glanced around. "How did you—"

"Nobody goes from falling flat on their face to skating like a pro in two seconds like that unless they've got a few tricks up their sleeves, Merlin," Aaryn shook his head, almost amused. "Fact that your prince hasn't caught on is almost scary, actually. I'm not sure if he's  _trying_  to be oblivious to the truth, or if he's just blinded by love," Aaryn shrugged indifferently. "Either way, I'm going to take an extra-long bathroom break now, if you want to give him a little  _lesson_  so he doesn't go back to the palace feeling quite so embarrassed," he raised his eyebrows with his meaning, then announced his plan to go relieve himself to Arthur, and left the pair alone on the ice, walking off through the trees on the blades, even though one of the first things he had told Merlin and Arthur was to  _not_  walk on the blades.

" _Mer_ lin…" Arthur hissed once Aaryn was out of earshot. Merlin just grinned, moving his feet so they were angled close together, put pressure on his heels so he came to a slow stop, allowing Arthur the moment he needed to catch up to him.

"Yes, sire?" he asked, turning around once Arthur was just behind him.

"What the  _hell_  do you think you're doing?" he demanded, reaching out and putting his hands on Merlin's shoulders for support.

"I believe Prince Aaryn called it ice skating," he replied cheekily.

"I  _know_  what it's called," he hissed in response. "But what do you think you're doing… doing it so  _well?"_

"Would you rather I fall flat on my face some more?" he asked, dumb-founded and quite enjoying himself. He could have just as easily done the same enchantment on Arthur, but that would have taken away from his amusement. And if he had to be dragged out to a frozen lake where he could very well fall through and meet his death, he was damn sure going to get some sort entertainment out of it. Even if it  _was_  at Arthur's expense and would probably cost him later on.

"Yes, actually. Because then I wouldn't look like a total fool in front of visiting royalty."

"Oh come on, Arthur, you were going to make yourself look like a fool sooner or later, anyway," Merlin told him. "At least you're only doing it in front of Aaryn and not his entire visiting court. Now  _that_  would have been embarrassing."

"This is  _serious_ , Merlin. If Aaryn thinks I cannot perform simple tasks such as this and not be out-done by my manservant, what do you think that will mean for our alliance?"

"He's not going to rip up a treaty because you can't balance on  _ice_ , Arthur," Merlin rolled his eyes. Honestly, the ridiculous thoughts that went through his mind sometimes. How he had ever managed before Merlin came into his life was just beyond him…

"… And you bothering him probably isn't helping things much." Arthur was saying, Merlin having tuned out the beginning of whatever insane thought he was having. "I can imagine him talking to his father back at their chambers later on. Going on about how incompetent I am, how he was left with just my manservant to entertain him, how dull it had been and—"

"Now hang on a minute," Merlin cut in, his tone sharp and offended. "I'll have you know that Prince Aaryn actually  _enjoys_  my company and  _appreciates_  the witty conversation I have to offer—far more than you do, at any rate,"

"And what makes you say that?" Arthur asked, his tone unbelieving.

"He offered me a position at his castle," he informed him, not having to add how serious that was. Visiting royalty might make passing comments about how good or bad the servants were, but you didn't just out-right offer a servant a position at your own castle unless you were serious about it. And Aaryn had seemed as serious as it got about his offer.

Arthur's face fell at Merlin's words and he wondered if he should have said anything at all. He didn't want to cause drama between Arthur and Aaryn. Not when Aaryn seemed like such good people, a good friend to have.

Arthur, however, just seemed lost in thought, his face pensive and worried before he asked, "Are you… considering it, then?"

"Considering—No, no. Of course not." Merlin told him quickly, the furious shake of his head almost enough to make Arthur lose his precarious balance. He reached a hand out to steady him, vaguely aware that Arthur might have  _actually_  been afraid of losing him to another prince. "Just nice to be offered, that's all," he shrugged, backing up just a touch to give Arthur more room to get his balance back on his own. "You know you're the only prince for me, Arthur," he clucked, squinting his eyes as he gripped Arthur's arms, trying to will him to position his feet correctly.

"You mean that?" Arthur asked, straightening his feet then pointing them to match the angle Merlin had his at.

"'Course," he nodded. " _But,_  if Aaryn becomes a king before you… well, all bets are off." He chuckled.

"Mmm, of course. I'd probably do the same—oh no, wait, that's right, I'm more loyal than you are." Arthur retorted, his face not quite as worried as it had been when he thought Merlin might leave him for another.

"Oh, I'm plenty loyal,"

"That right?"

"Yeah."

"How so?"

"Well, I could just as easily let you continue to make a fool of yourself in front of Prince Aaryn, but instead I'm going to help you."

"I'm not quite sure you know what loyalty  _is_ ,  _Mer_ lin." Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I'm not taking the position at Aaryn's, so shut up and do what I tell you," Merlin cut at him, ignoring the stern look he got in return and instructing him on what he needed to do.

It took a few tries, but finally Merlin got Arthur out skating on his own without much difficulty and, when he was a fair distance out, muttered a spell that would help him with his balance, that would get him moving enough to keep up with Merlin and Aaryn once the other prince returned.

The three of them spent the rest of the afternoon gliding on the ice, Aaryn even able to teach them a few odd tricks once it was clear that they both had the hang of things.

By the time they changed back into their regular boots and slung the gifted  _ice skates_ , as Aaryn called them, over their shoulders, they were all laughing about passing comments made about Merlin's fall at the beginning of their skating adventure and Arthur's lack of balance until Merlin cut in and helped him. The look Arthur shot Merlin at Aaryn's knowing grin that told him they were  _so_  going to have a rather unpleasant—for Merlin, anyway—chat later on about all that was well worth it when he brought his hand to Merlin's shoulder and squeezed it, smiled at him appreciatively nonetheless and trudged forward, being mindful to keep himself between Merlin and Aaryn on their journey back to the castle.

Merlin decided then that a jealous Arthur, even if it wasn't quite justified or obvious if you weren't looking close enough, was  _definitely_  an entertaining Arthur, one that he for sure hoped crept back up sometime in the near future.

 

* * *

 


End file.
